Kimberly D. Hebert Artist

Inquiry

The Story Behind Semicolon

I painted Semicolon in 2021, after going to New Orleans with my sister to see a show. I met some amazing people that night, and something about the experience stayed with me.

For years, I had felt like my life was sitting still. I had been mostly at home since 2014, and that night felt different. I was meeting new people, having new experiences, and beginning to step back into the world. It felt like my story was finally continuing.

Not long after, I was in my new art studio painting. One of the people I had met that night in New Orleans came to see me and sat with me while I worked on this piece.

I didn’t begin with a plan or a specific image in mind. I painted from emotion, letting the colors, movement, and feelings come out on the canvas. It wasn’t until afterward that I stepped back and began to understand what I had painted.

I saw a heart holding pain, emotion, and fire—the weight of everything it had carried. Then I saw the wave breaking the heart open, allowing that weight to finally be released so life could continue forward.

And within it, I saw the semicolon.

A semicolon represents a place where something could have ended, but instead it continued. That’s what this painting became for me.

The release. The continuation. The realization that my story wasn’t over.